The increased use of miniaturized electronics for data processing, signal processing and electrical component control circuits has required a corresponding increase in the demand for the multi-conductor connectors needed to connect such electronic components together. In some applications, such as in high security areas, in areas particularly sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, and in areas where such radiation might be considered a health hazard, it is necessary to provide electromagnetic shielding for such equipment, for the cables interconnecting such equipment, and for the connectors terminating such cables.
Shielded connectors for multi-conductor cables are well-known. Such connectors must provide a surrounding shell which is conductive in order to shield the internal wires and a mechanism for completing a radiation-tight electrical connection between the metallic shell and the conductive braid or foil surrounding the wires of the cable. While such structures provide adequate shielding for most installations, some applications for extremely noisy signals, require further signal noise suppression.
It has been common in electromagnetically noisy environments to minimize the amount of noise that escapes from the enviroment by conduction through the electrical conductors leaving the environment. This can be accomplished by a capacitor to ground which filters out the high frequency components, or a ferrite ring surrounding the conductors in which eddy currents are induced and which thereby disburse the high frequency signal components. Miniature filters have likewise been used for this purpose. All of these noise suppression techniques take up space in the electronics cabinet, often on a printed wiring board (PWB), thereby increasing the bulk, weight and cost of the electronic equipment. Moreover, the noise suppressors are often unsightly and hence cannot be placed in plain view.